An electro-mechanical brake includes any variety of electrical actuator(s) controllable to apply a braking force to a rotating wheel. In response to, for example, a control input, an actuator moves an actuator piston face relative to a pressure plate. While the piston face and the pressure plate are not in contact, no braking force is applied. When the piston face is positioned to exert a force against the pressure plate, a corresponding braking force occurs.
Precise control and/or response times of electro-mechanical brakes are limited by any number and/or variety of static and/or dynamic parameters and/or effects such as brake stack stiffness, effective actuator rotor inertia, thermal expansion, etc. For example, an actuator may be designed to position the piston face at a particular distance from a pressure plate in response to a given control input value. However, due to thermal expansion of the piston face and/or the pressure plate, the actual separation distance between them may be greater than or less than the designed (i.e., intended) distance. Closed-loop control systems for electro-mechanical brakes may be used to improve control precision and/or response time, but currently rely on actuator position feedback provided by the brake via, for example, one or more position and/or contact sensors.